I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of tie-down devices designed to tightly hold bulky materials on trailers and, more particularly, to a heavy duty fastening securement device which will safely and easily secure dunnage between the landing gear and landing gear bracing underneath flatbed truck trailers.
II. Description of the Related Art
Tie-down rollers and securement devices have long been utilized on flatbed trailers, and other types of trailers, for the purposes of securing a load to the flatbed trailer. Typically, when a load is placed upon a flatbed truck trailer, the load, in certain instances, may not be placed juxtaposed with the flatbed surface. Frequently, the load is maintained above the flatbed surface and supported on large timbers which may measure some eight (8) feet in length and will be in the neighborhood of four (4) inches square. Obviously, the sizes of the dunnage may vary from load to load depending upon the type of load which is to be supported. The problem comes when the flatbed trailer is unloaded and something must be done with the dunnage for the deadhead trip of the trailer back to the original location from where the load was initially loaded on the flatbed trailer. In the past, there has been many systems for maintaining the dunnage in a secure relationship to the flatbed trailer. In addition, if the trailer is not deadheading, the trailer may have a return load which does not require the dunnage for proper loading or may not require all of the dunnage to be utilized for a particular load. At this point, something must be done with the excess dunnage for the return trip.
In the past, there has been problems with proper securement of the dunnage on flatbed trailers and, in various states, the departments of transportation have suggested using rope or chain to secure the dunnage either to the flatbed trailer portion or to some other location such as the landing gears of the trailer. However, a problem normally occurs when securing the dunnage by using rope or chain, because such can be become loose during transport causing an obvious safety problem. To overcome the possibility of a rope or chain becoming loose, many truck drivers have used rubber bungy cords in the past, but in many jurisdictions, this type of securement device is not over-the-road legal.
It has been considered to utilize a tie-down racheting type of roller system to secure the dunnage, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,275 issued to D. Michael Cottrell et al. However, such a device ultimately fails because it does not have a safety tensioning fastening means which will overcome any looseness that develops in the dunnage during the over-the-road travel time.